The online rumors are true, sort of. The federal government is buying up huge quantities of ammunition -- 1.6 billion rounds to be precise.

That amounts to roughly five bullets for every person in the United States.

The Homeland Security Department said it will acquire the ammo over the next four or five years for federal agents in training and on duty.

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., is run by the Homeland Security Department. It uses roughly 15 million rounds every year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises.

The massive ammo buy comes as local law enforcement officials around the country are having trouble buying enough ammunition to stock their police departments.

Private buyers have also noted that ammo is harder to find and the shortage is causing prices to spike.

That fact, along with reports about the big federal ammo purchase, have agitated conspiracy theorists since the fall.

Conservative radio host Alex Jones said the government is launching an "arms race against the American people."

The Homeland Security ammo buy is not the first time the government's bullet purchases have sparked concerns. The same thing happened last year when the Social Security Administration announced it was buying 174,000 hollow point bullets.

The agency said those bullets were for the Social Security inspector general's office, which has about 295 agents who investigate Social Security fraud and other crimes.